Safety latch for cabinets



Feb. 24, 1910 -BQBOSLAND ETAL SAFETY LATCH FOR cmamm's Fma June 9, 1967INVENTORS BRUCE BO SLAND, 205527- 00400450, BY

M1144 Qmkm f MW' 47 TOAQ VEYS.

United States Patent 3,497,251 SAFETY LATCH FOR CABINETS Bruce Bosland,21 Locust Place, Wayne, NJ. 07470, and Robert P. Colombo, 44 Aspen Road,Wanaque, NJ. 07465 Filed June 9, 1967, Ser. No. 645,015 Int. Cl. Ec5/00, 17/06 US. Cl. 292-64 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thisinvention relates to an auxiliary safety latch for the doors of cabinetsand while of particular utility with respect to medicine cabinets,nevertheless enjoys a useful function with regard to any cabinet for anypurpose.

It is an object of this invention to provide an auxiliary latch whichwill hinder the full opening of the door of a cabinet in order toprevent ingress to the cabinet by those who may be referred to as oftender years or toddlers, or in general, those of suflicientlysub-adolescent intelligence as to be incapable of coping with whatappear to be ordinary simple complexities of this particular latch.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an auxiliary latchas aforesaid which is inexpensive from a material standpoint, easy andtherefore inexpensive to manufacture, and which while presenting theelements of a problem, nevertheless presents a problem insufficient tobaflie ordinary adult intelligence.

The above and other objects will be made clear from the followingdetailed drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the above approved auxiliary latch;

FIGURE 2 is a bottom plan view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an end elevation taken from the lefthand side of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation, partially in section, showing how the actof closing a cabinet door brings the auxiliary latch into operativecondition; and

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4, showing the latch in its activeposition, in which it restricts full opening of the cabinet door.

While this invention was conceived as a palliative of the manifesthazards lurking within any medicine cabinet within reach of smallchildren, it is equally applicable (within the huge group embraced bythe term small children) to any cabinet containing anything which anadult would prefer not to place at the unrestricted disposal of suchsmall children, It is not in and of itself a latch in the sense that itprevents or restricts any opening whatever of the cabinet door. It isdistinctly an auxiliary feature.

Referring now to FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, there is shown an L-shaped cabinetattachable member having a vertical leg 12 and a horizontal leg 14. Theleg 14 has parallel downwardly directed limited flanges 16 and 18, eachof which has a lateral circular perforation 20 merging with a forwardlyextending slot 22 of lesser diameter or thickness or height than thediameter of the circular perforation 20. Quite clearly, the member 10,its flanges 16 and 18, the perforations 20 and the slots 22 may be3,497,251 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 "ice formed in a single operation froma single sheet of metal along with the leg 12 which also containselongated slots 24 and 26 (FIGURE 3) and the flat blank thus producedreadily may be brought to the form of FIGURES l and 3 by a simple onestep bending operation. If desired, a permanent magnet 27 may beattached to the end of the leg 14 of the member 10. This sometimesassists the action of the latch member 28 hereinafter described.

A latch member generally designated by the numeral 28 is also formedpreferably in the flat from a sheet of metal and comprises an elongatedbody portion 30' having at one end an elongated bent down portion 32 ofequal width to the body portion 30 and terminating in a broaderretaining portion 34. The body portion 30 and the bent down portion 32are of a width suflicient to pass through a slot 36 formed in the leg 14of the member 10.

At the opposite end of the body portion 30 there is an upwardly bentportion 38 terminating in an outwardly and downwardly bent end 40. Thebody portion 30 has approximtaely midway its length between the bentportions 32 and 38 a pair of tongues 42 which, being stamped from flatsheet metal, have a rectangular crosssection of a maximum dimensioncorresponding to the diameter of the circular aperture 20 in the flanges16 and 18. The apertures 20, by the way, are aligned transversely of theleg 14.

Now, as to assembly of the parts above described: The elements 10 and 28are stamped in their entirety from flat sheet metal. The element 28 isthen bent to the condition shown in FIGURE 1 and is then placed inproper relationship to the blank 10 through which the leg 12 may or maynot have been bent prior to such assembly. At any rate, the flanges 16and 18 of the member 10 are then bent downwardly so that the circularperforations 20 receive and embrace the tongues 42 of the body portion30 and the parts are then in relationship illustrated in FIGURE 1.

For the purpose of installation, the tongues 42 are perfectly slidablein the slots 22 and therefore the member 28 is slid relative to themember 10 to the left-hand end of the slot 22 to give complete access tothe elongated slots 24 and 26 of the member 12. The device as a whole isthen adjusted relative to a cabinet wall 44 (FIGURE 4) so that the leg14 is in approximate alignment with the flat 46 of a door jamb 48 of thecabinet Wall 44. Screws or other conventional securing means are theninserted in the slots 24 and 26 and the unit is then in condition foroperation,

A cabinet door 50 is hinged to the cabinet wall 44 and is swingable toclosing position in the direction of the arrow 52 and to open positionin the direction of the arrow 54. Now, assume that the assembly is inthe condition shown in FIGURE 4 and that the door 50 is moving in thedirection of the arrow 52, if the member 30 is in the position shown inFIGURE 4, there is nothing to impede closing of the door 50, but if forwhatever reason the door 50 were to the left of the member 40 with themember 30 in the position shown in FIGURE 5, the door 50, moving in thedirection of the arrow 52, would encounter the member 40 and slide themember 30 with its tongues 42 through the slots 22 to the aperture 20 inthe flanges 16 and 18 and thereupon the member 30 would assume theposition indicated in FIGURE 4. As the door proceeds to closing positionrelative to the cabinet wall 44, it will encounter the upper end of themember 30 protruding above the member 14 in FIGURE 4 and depress theparts to the condition shown in FIGURE 1, the door is thereupon securedagainst the cabinet wall 44 by conventional means.

Upon opening the door from its engagement with the cabinet wall 44 andmoving the door 50 in the direction of the arrow 54, the door 50 willencounter the member 38 in the condition of FIGURE 5, to which conditionclosure of the door 50 against the wall 44 has conditioned the parts. Inorder then fully to open the door 50, it is necessary partially to closethe door 50, then to slide the member 30 until the tongues 42 enter theapertures 20 at which point the member 30 may be made to assume theposition of FIGURE 4 and the door then may be fully opened.

The above-described operations, while (hopefully) well within the skillof the average adult, should prove quite bafliing to the age group 1/2-3 years, and, therefore, provides a considerable safety factor.

While in order to make this disclosure, certain specific details havebeen described and shown, it is not the intention to limit thisinvention to such precise details of which numerous variations willsuggest themselves to one skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. An auxiliary latch comprising a static member affixable to a cabinetwall adjacent the door thereof; a latch connected to said member forboth sliding and tilting relative thereto, said latch being tiltableonly at one end of its sliding movement; door-engaging means at one endReferences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 24,603 6/ 1859 Johnson 2922901,284,399 11/1918 McManus 292-114 2,203,333 6/1940 Klumpp 292262 X2,532,586 12/1950 Wickwire 292290 X 2,673,755 3/1954 Asp 292251.5 X

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner R. L. WOLFE, Assistant Examiner US.Cl. X.R. 292-262

